Ranieri in line to give Hearts Europe calibre

By Roddy Forsyth

12:01AM BST 28 Oct 2005

Heart of Midlothian have a shortlist of half a dozen candidates to replace George Burley, including Claudio Ranieri, the former Chelsea and Valencia manager.

Ranieri - who was in Edinburgh yesterday - Nevio Scala and Ottmar Hitzfeld have all been touted as candidates, and a club source said last night: "There are half a dozen names who will blow the Hearts fans' minds."

Whoever gets the job will, however, be appointed as a coach and will have to work with a director of football, according to the club's principal shareholder, Vladimir Romanov. Sir Bobby Robson is one of the British candidates, but at the age of 72 he may prefer to be considered as football director.

Romanov said: "In the longer term we are looking to achieve our objectives of success in Europe, and we need to be thinking about a manager with the right levels of knowledge and experience of the European calibre."

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On his determination to establish a European model of management, with both a director of football and coach, Romanov said: "I think it is a fundamental problem in Scottish football. You have a gap in the organisational structure of clubs created by the absence of a director of football.

"The manager has too much responsibility - running a team and trying to manage a budget as well as other matters.

"What is important for me is to have a relationship with the head coach or manager in which he makes it clear to me why, if he's buying a player, the reasons for doing so. If you are buying a tie, would you not consult your wife?"

Romanov refused to expand on why Burley left the club so hastily and cited the confidentiality clauses signed by both the club and the former manager as "a two-way process". He added that he had not been involved personally in drawing up the confidentiality agreement.

In a surreal twist, Romanov disclosed that he had taken to writing poetry while in Edinburgh. One of his effusions is apparently titled Thistle, but is not thought to relate to either the Inverness or Partick incarnations. Another, dedicated to the doubtless astonished individual Hearts fan, is reproduced above.

No such light relief is available to the embattled Rangers manager Alex McLeish. The champions now trail Scotland's three form teams - Hearts by 11 points, Celtic by eight points and Hibernian by five - and if they lose their Champions League return with Artmedia Bratislava in Slovakia in Tuesday, a full-blown crisis will be impossible to avert.

There was silence from Rangers yesterday, but a division in the ranks was signalled by their captain Barry Ferguson when he said: "If players can't handle the pressure, they shouldn't be at Rangers."

Armchair fans wondering why Setanta are broadcasting the Celtic visit to Dundee United this weekend, instead of the most keenly anticipated - not to mention sold out - Edinburgh derby in decades, should blame the Scottish Premier League board rather than the television company.

The station's executive producer, Colin Davidson, admitted last night that he would have preferred to have provided live coverage of Hibs-Hearts tomorrow, but said his hands had been tied by the agreement forced on them by the ruling body.

The broadcasters are restricted to four matches per venue for the whole season.